(Exclusive) Badshah on debuting at Untold fest: It was a defining moment for me

Badshah has become the first Indian rapper to headline one of the world’s biggest music fests, Untold. Taking the stage at the Dubai edition of the festival, titled Untold Dubai Festival, Badshah made 75,000 music lovers groove to his hits including Paagal, Proper Patola, Kar Gayi Chull, Wakhra Swag, Baaki Baatein Peene Baad, She Move It Like, Saturday Saturday, Let's Nacho, Genda Phool, Jugnu and Kala Chashma. “It was surreal and such a great way to kick-start 2024. It was definitely a defining moment for me. It has set a precedent for magical things that are yet to unfold for me this year. To see over 70,000 people singing your words back to you! There's nothing more intoxicating than that,” he tells us, exclusively.

Badshah’s performance preceded world-leading DJs Hardwell and Tiësto. The festival also featured celebrated musicians such as Armin van Buuren, Don Diablo, Ellie Goulding, Psy, Major Lazer, Paul Kalkbrenner and Timmy Trumpet. Badshah adds, “I thoroughly enjoyed performing alongside some major music legends and the crowd was extremely reciprocal and warm.”

The rapper paid a tribute to late musician Sidhu Moosewala and also waved and kissed the Indian flag. He says, “Every time I set a new benchmark for myself, I feel like I’m doing it for my country and my community. I feel proud to have done this for India. Our country is making milestones in every department, so why not music? My dream is to show the world that India is a country with a burgeoning and well-established hip-hop community and we are headliner and mainstage material. I feel a responsibility to carry forward the legacy of Indian hip-hop music, but also to push its boundaries and make it relevant to a global audience. We need more Indian artistes headlining festivals across the world and it shouldn’t be restricted to just one genre. It would be nice to see a 10-15 Indian headliner entourage on line-ups of global music festivals of this scale."